Our Standards

With all the crap flying around the internet about ratings, time spent in games, and ethics in general, I felt it was time we put our own practices in writing as well. There isn't much to say, as we are not and never claimed to be professionals, but an outline for you, the reader, so you would know if you wish to trust us and on what we say, would be most useful. So let me put this out there for you.

Reviews: As far as reviews go, we leave a lot loose and up to the writer. However, there are a few standards that we have to insist on before a review is written:

Time put into the review: This is one of the big issues a lot of people have with reviewers. They want to be sure of how much time they put into the game before they say anything. Most in fact as a safety, INSIST on the game being completed. Personally, I do not, but there are certain measures we do insist on.

If a game is given a good review on this site and is completable, it MUST be finished before doing so: I insist on this based on my own previous experiences with a few games that completely ruined themselves by being lazy and/or completely changing the game type for the last boss exclusively (I'm looking at you, Star Fox Adventure). If a game is good, it must be good as a whole, period, and without question. Please keep in mind, this does NOT mean getting every achievement or doing everything in the game. It means being able to complete the story, get an ending, and (possibly) roll the credits.

If a game is given a good review on this site and is not completable, it must have been played at least 40 hours before reviewing: Let's face it, not all games have an ending or even a point where the credits roll and you can say "yeah, I beat this game." These are the kinds of games that need to be able to keep you coming back to be worth your time to begin with. It's why games like Pac-Man still get remixed today and why MMOs like World of Warcraft suck you in for hours and hours and hours. But do you enjoy it through all those hours? We figure if they have done so for 40 hours of game time or more, the game has proven it will last and not get boring shortly after you start playing.

If a game is given a bad review on this site, it must have been played at least 8 hours: I do not expect someone to finish a game they hate, but I expect a detailed analysis as to what was wrong with the game. I also insist that the game be given a chance to ensure it is not just a slow or rough beginning to what might turn out to be a great game in the end. But if the game fails to be good for that long, I do not believe you can reasonably expect a player to have the patients to keep going no matter how good the rest of the game is. The exception to this, of course, is if they can finish the game in less then 8 hours. If the game is that short, you can expect it was finished. You can also expect if it isn't finished, we will say so.

A broken game will be given a 0 score: I honestly don't care how good a game is up until that point. If the game is broken in a fundamental way that prevents you from completing it, it will get a 0 score, no matter what. This is pretty rare, since as I write this, I have had to give this score to exactly one game on this site.

In addition to these standards of time spent on reviews, this seems like the perfect place to put our scoring system, so without further this is what the scores roughly means:

A
10 out of 10 as this shows, is for the games of the highest caliber.
Literally, we reserve this for games so good, it would take one of the
most OCDed perfectionists on the planet to not call it perfect. We do
not gives these out lightly and if a game earns this, we do not care if
you hate the type of game or not. You will like this. As I write this, I
do not believe I have found a game yet that earns this level of
respect.
A
9 out of 10 means you are about to play a game that is absolutely
exceptional in every way. While not perfect, this game is so good that
you have to look close to see any real flaws, and chances are even if
you do not like the type of game it is, you will have fun with it.
An
8 out of 10 is a really good game. It may have a noticeable flaw here
and there, but they are all minor and won’t effect your experience of
the game. If you are a fan of the type of game or enjoy the occasional
one, you will absolutely love it. If you could care less, you will still
have fun, but if you do not like the game type, you will likely have no
interest in playing.

A
7 out of 10 is a good game. It will likely have a few issues you will
see and might even annoy you, but you will have a great time with the
game over all. If you are a fan of the game type, this is still a game
you should be considering. If not, you might want to pass this one up or
wait for it to drop in price. You might still have fun, but it’s not
really a sure thing. If don’t like this kind of game, you should
probably avoid it, as those minor issues will probably bother you much
more then other gamers.
A
6 out of 10 is a very average game. There is nothing exceptional about
it to pull the gamer in and is likely just the standard fair of the
genre. If you are a fan, you probably have better choices available, but
you will still likely find something to enjoy in this title. If you are
not, you are probably better looking elsewhere.
A
5 out of 10 is a game that has some major issues, preventing it from
being at the standard level of the genre it’s a part of. Fans of the
kind of game are likely to look at this game as very “meh” at best. It
is probably not worth your money outside of the bargain bin. To anyone
else, it is probably not worth your money at all.
A
4 out of 10 is a pretty flawed game and quickly reaching into the just
plain bad category. For whatever reason, this game should be destined
for the bargain bin if it’s to get any sales at all.
A
3 out of 10 is a bad game. Plain and simple. To get this low, the game
has to be a terrible experience, be it because of bugs, controls, or
just plain a bad idea that was never going to be good. If a game gets
this score, it’s probably for the best to avoid it.
A
2 out of 10 is a REALLY bad game. This is where we begin to wonder how
in god’s name the game was ever let out of beta or the design room.
There is NOTHING redeeming about this game, and anything that stands out
about it is in a bad way. Avoid this game at all costs.
A
1 out of 10 is about as bad as a game can get. Basically at this point,
the only things we can say about the game positively are that it’s
actually a game and it has no game-ending bugs that are assured to stop
you from finishing. If you are buying this game, either may God have
Mercy on your soul, or may this be a stunt for a charity like Extra Life where you are intentionally tormenting yourself on behalf of sick children. And then may God Bless you for your selflessness.
There
is only one reason a game can ever get a 0 out of 10, and that is it
doesn’t work. Be it the game never starts up, crashes way too often to
play, or even has a game-ending bug that you can NOT avoid, even if you
know about it, that is how a game gets this low.